BALLERINI, PAOLO. – Archbishop of Milan, b. in Milan on 13 Jan. 1814, d. at Seregno in 1897. He studied in Vienna, where he earned a doctorate in theology. Returning to his native city, he taught theology at the Major Seminary and became a canon of the Metropolitan Cathedral and vicar general to Archbishop Romilli, who had him as a faithful and scrupulous collaborator in the final years of his life. After Romilli’s death, Francis Joseph proposed B. as titular archbishop of Milan, but B., taking into account the particular political circumstances, presented his resignation to the emperor. Nevertheless, Pius IX, in the Consistory of 20 June 1859, preconized B. as archbishop of Milan. In 1860 he was granted, by a special brief, jurisdiction over the diocese, and on the night of 8 Dec. he was consecrated in the Charterhouse of Pavia by Msgr. Caccia, capitular vicar.
A steadfast opponent of the new civil authorities who sought to intervene in the appointment of ecclesiastical offices, B. could not formally take possession of the diocese while the activity carried out by the vicar in defense of the Church’s rights was attributed by anticlericals to him, as if it were the work of the reactionary party headed by B. himself as a pseudo-archbishop. In the secret Consistory of 27 March 1867, Pius IX promoted B. to the titular patriarchal see of Alexandria in Egypt, while Msgr. Luigi Nazari di Calabiana was appointed archbishop of Milan. B. lived in retirement, devoted to study; he published a new edition of the works of St. Ambrose (Milan 1875–83) in 6 volumes.